Mantra (19/09/2013)
With a new album released and a massive run of Australian tour dates, Melbourne rapper Mantra spoke to The 59th Sound.
How are you going mate?
Yeah I’m going good. Busy, busy, busy at the moment but things are exciting.
What’s news in the world of Mantra?
Where do I start brother? We’ve got the record coming out this week, so getting ready for that has been pretty crazy. Other than that I’ve been on a big regional tour with Seth Sentry and Grey Ghost so that’s been keeping me busy. I’ve been coming back to Melbourne and doing a couple of education projects that I do every week. It’s been pretty flat out and I’ve also organised my album tour, which starts immediately after the tour with Seth, so we’re balls to the wall at the moment.
You’ve had success with your single, Loudmouth and now you’ve released the follow up Break Tradition. Do you expect Break Tradition to be just as successful?
It’s a very different song, so the response has been different. When Loudmouth dropped I think people were pleasantly surprised because it is way more a light hearted, tongue in cheek sorta song. So I think people were feeling that. With Break Tradition, I think it has related with people differently, many people have said they can relate to the positive message it has which is awesome. When you write a song like that you don’t necessarily hope that it has an impact or that it makes people feel something. When people say they feel it and it’s a really great song, that’s a great feeling for me. Whether that means it’s a commercial success or not, it doesn’t matter, if people are saying they cried when they listened to it, that makes it a success.
Can you tell me what went into producing your new album, Telling Scenes, and are you happy with how it turned out?
I reckon I’m more proud of this album than anything I’ve done before. I’m always proud of making an album, I definitely worked harder on this one than I have on anything else, it was one that I put 100% into. I think I did a good job.
You have a tour of your own coming up, what can fans of Mantra expect from the shows?
Plenty of new songs, we haven’t really had the chance to play them that much so that will be good. Grey Ghost is supporting on the tour as he has his own tour and we’ve managed to link up in a few towns. It’s awesome to combine forces when possible.
The Aussie Hip Hop scene seems to be one big family at times with all the collaborations. Do you love sharing the mic with names like Drapht, Seth Sentry Etc?
It’s an absolute honour to be able to share the stage and the mic with dudes like that, these are the dudes that I consider to be the best rappers in the country. I really enjoy collaborating with these guys and it’s a really good process. Being on tour with Seth and Grey Ghost is rad cause it means that Grey Ghost and I can rock my songs in my set and then we can get up and freestyle with Seth in his set. It’s been a really fun tour.
Can we expect to see you making a guest appearance at Sprung Hip Hop Festival?
Ohhh that I’m not sure about, I’m not sure if I’ll even be in town, I think I’ll be doing my own show. If I can make it I will but it’s looking unlikely, I’ve done the last two so I can’t expect too much I guess. Sprung is rad so anytime I can be at that festival I will be.
Thanks for the chat, good luck with the album and the tour.
Mitchell Guy
@Mitchell_Guy1
How are you going mate?
Yeah I’m going good. Busy, busy, busy at the moment but things are exciting.
What’s news in the world of Mantra?
Where do I start brother? We’ve got the record coming out this week, so getting ready for that has been pretty crazy. Other than that I’ve been on a big regional tour with Seth Sentry and Grey Ghost so that’s been keeping me busy. I’ve been coming back to Melbourne and doing a couple of education projects that I do every week. It’s been pretty flat out and I’ve also organised my album tour, which starts immediately after the tour with Seth, so we’re balls to the wall at the moment.
You’ve had success with your single, Loudmouth and now you’ve released the follow up Break Tradition. Do you expect Break Tradition to be just as successful?
It’s a very different song, so the response has been different. When Loudmouth dropped I think people were pleasantly surprised because it is way more a light hearted, tongue in cheek sorta song. So I think people were feeling that. With Break Tradition, I think it has related with people differently, many people have said they can relate to the positive message it has which is awesome. When you write a song like that you don’t necessarily hope that it has an impact or that it makes people feel something. When people say they feel it and it’s a really great song, that’s a great feeling for me. Whether that means it’s a commercial success or not, it doesn’t matter, if people are saying they cried when they listened to it, that makes it a success.
Can you tell me what went into producing your new album, Telling Scenes, and are you happy with how it turned out?
I reckon I’m more proud of this album than anything I’ve done before. I’m always proud of making an album, I definitely worked harder on this one than I have on anything else, it was one that I put 100% into. I think I did a good job.
You have a tour of your own coming up, what can fans of Mantra expect from the shows?
Plenty of new songs, we haven’t really had the chance to play them that much so that will be good. Grey Ghost is supporting on the tour as he has his own tour and we’ve managed to link up in a few towns. It’s awesome to combine forces when possible.
The Aussie Hip Hop scene seems to be one big family at times with all the collaborations. Do you love sharing the mic with names like Drapht, Seth Sentry Etc?
It’s an absolute honour to be able to share the stage and the mic with dudes like that, these are the dudes that I consider to be the best rappers in the country. I really enjoy collaborating with these guys and it’s a really good process. Being on tour with Seth and Grey Ghost is rad cause it means that Grey Ghost and I can rock my songs in my set and then we can get up and freestyle with Seth in his set. It’s been a really fun tour.
Can we expect to see you making a guest appearance at Sprung Hip Hop Festival?
Ohhh that I’m not sure about, I’m not sure if I’ll even be in town, I think I’ll be doing my own show. If I can make it I will but it’s looking unlikely, I’ve done the last two so I can’t expect too much I guess. Sprung is rad so anytime I can be at that festival I will be.
Thanks for the chat, good luck with the album and the tour.
Mitchell Guy
@Mitchell_Guy1